Desert Storm Veteran George Tice begins a 480 mile bicycle journey from Fort Myers to Tallahassee Saturday morning. He’s raising awareness and funds to help other veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. According to a report from the journal Injury Prevention, the suicide rate among U.S. Army personnel shot up 80%. “It’s getting worse,” said Tice.
“From 2009 to this year, 76,000 of our veterans, our service men and women are diagnosed with PTSD. Right now it’s one out of every eight soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan show signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
Tice will stop at American Legion posts to meet with service members and veterans over the course of the ten day trek. He plans to speak with state lawmakers in Tallahassee November 6th. So far, Tice says he’s raised about $2,000 dollars through donations and business partnerships. That money will benefit the American Red Cross Veterans Outreach Program in Fort Myers and the Southeastern Guide Dogs which provides service dogs for veterans with PTSD.
Tice says he also wants to improve the level of response from the Veterans Administrations’ suicide crisis hotline. “The problem with that is, I had a lady who called the crisis line for her son,” said Tice. “The crisis line gave her three phone numbers to call. The first phone number she called was disconnected. The second one, on one ever picked up and the third one as to the VA in Fort Myers which at six o’clock the place is closed down.”
Tice wants to establish a network of veterans who can respond in person to calls to the crisis line within three hours of the call. “It’s a lot easier to talk to them about what they’ve seen or what they’ve witnessed because a lot of our guys here in Florida have seen some of the same things; stepped in some of the same boots as them,” said Tice.
Tice’s own PTSD diagnosis didn't come for about a year following the onset of symptoms. “I don’t sleep much at night,” said Tice. “I have really bad nightmares. Once in a while I have a flashback; something will trigger it. I don’t do well with large crowds coming toward me.”
Tice’s ten-day bicycle journey begins Saturday morning at ten at the American Legion Post 38 in downtown Fort Myers. For more information visit www.VetsRide4PTSD.us.
